Move4ART

Seldom get to write in this place, in this voice. Here goes.  Where? Going to witness Sleeping Weazel 's presentation of "3/Fifths" Trapped in a Traveling Minstrel Show  this weekend at the Calderwood Pavilion .  Why? Because  Minstrelsy dominated American culture for three-quarters of a century--from the 1840s, when minstrel shows became the 'hot ticket' in every city, town, and hollow across the United States of America.  And the more white entertainers realized there was money to be made by stereo/typing cash-poor (mostly) Southern blacks, minstrel shows  'went viral'--infecting the American bloodstream with antibodies that continue to poison our system to this day. Black performers gained acceptance with white audiences in the United States by 'blacking up.' If you didn't put on blackface, you didn't get to take the stage in otherwise "white only" houses. In other words, you didn't even get to play.   At first bl...

Thanks to  MassCreative , Mattapan creatives have a basis for comparing the two mayoral candidates before we pull a lever next Tuesday.   And while the Mattapan Arts Council (M.A.C.) has decided  not  to endorse a candidate this time around, a side-by-side comparison of the candidates’ responses to  MassCreative’s questionnaire  is worth considering. One way to compare the two is between ‘head’ versus ‘heart:’  one candidate speaks from his personal connection to the arts; the other reveals only what he thinks about the arts.  Put differently, one approaches the questions posed from the “inside out;” the other, from “outside in.” Of course  the challenger  is promoting change, while  the incumbent  is defending the status quo.  And it is on the hinge between the two that the M.A.C. found itself deadlocked. The challenger acknowledges the need for change, at least.  His responses suggest he’d  do some...

On September 6th, 2017 a message dropped from a Boston.gov email account announcing  a "Farewell to Mattapan-Dorchester and the Haitian Community."  Buried in the message (in the very last paragraph, in fact), was a a cryptic mention that there would "also be updates regarding Mattapan Square...and the addition of a new tattoo parlor." This struck me as curious, since I already had an entry in my calendar, by then, to attend a hearing of the City's  Zoning Board of Appeals  about a tattoo parlor slated to go into the building next door to where I live. The Zoning Board's hearing notice had arrived in snail mail weeks before.  It confirmed what prior to then, was only rumor.  So I resolved to go and lodge a formal protest; specifically about the lack of public process related the proposed change of "business uses" at  438 River Street  in Mattapan, MA. I listened intently as Ruth Georges, out-going Boston Neighborhood Liaison, assured t...

Boston  politics has always been ‘machine politics’–where power is centralized, consolidated, and tightly controlled in the hands of a few, ostensibly for the benefit of ‘the many.’  Unfortunately,  whoever happens to be wielding power understands ‘the many’ as mostly class- and color-coded. Every four years, however, the concept of ‘the many’ is really encouraged to breathe–to find its broadest possible expanse; to stretch to embrace and accommodate, in fact, enough of the voting public.  This is when those who wield power loosen the reigns long enough so some of the rainwater trickles down to the grassroots.  And like art, water is life. And so it is that today  Martin J. Walsh ‘s campaign signs have papered over Mattapan Square with ‘walking around money.’  Curiously though, the racially-displaced (’cause they ain’t from ’round here), candy-sucking panhandlers were no where to be found  today .  And in case you missed it, Ma...

     If U.S.  Census data is to be believed, Mattapan lost nearly 10% of its population between 2000 and 2010.   This came as a surprise to those of us who live here.   Bus trips home remained congested,  and lines at the Post Office remained long.    In other words, nothing in our lived experience of the place confirmed what Census data reported.     Since then the nagging question has been, how did nearly 10,000 people leave without anyone noticing?            Now we know there’s been a concerted effort to whittle away at Mattapan’s territory, again.   This time, by selling Mattapan homeowners  on the idea that life would be better if they were Hyde Park residents.  Apparently many opted to leave Mattapan (figuratively speaking)—diluting the power of their vote in the larger pool of mostly white voters who live in Hyde Park.  And for what? Cheaper insur...

How will you summer in 2017?   Boston Harbor [Re]Creation initiatives has issued a call for an Artist In Residency , based on Spectacle Island; and a Temporary Sculpture Exhibition on Peddocks Island; hoping "to draw a diverse and skilled pool of artists who share a passion for parks."    The application deadline is Monday, 30 January 2017  @ 11:59 p.m. So if nature's your thing, you might want to consider attending the information session on Wednesday, 14 December 2014 from 5 to 7 p.m. Meanwhile, peruse Boston Harbor [Re]Creatiion's  website  for more details.  We'll forward the RFP via email to all artists in our network.  If you don't receive one, please forward email message with subject line "Boston Harbor Islands RFP" and we'll send it via reply.

     Two years ago the Mattapan Arts Council articulated a scathing critique of the Boston Public Health Commission 's current "Our Mattapan" campaign .  Ironically, its Violence Intervention & Prevention   (branded for 'cool points' as "VIP")  initiative developed a "public awareness campaign" about Mattapan that only reifies the view of Mattapan as a violent, dangerous place to be.      It's a campaign message that contra/dicts the day-to-day experience of those who live, work, or play in Mattapan.   It also caused Mattapan-based artists  to think more broadly about how our Mattapan is often (mis)represented, despite even the best intentions. Now comes a new RFP that  just might be our best chance to do something about it.        So the Mattapan Arts Council  is more than happy to share information about the VIP's new search for artists to work with its youth design team to develop its next...